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Peregrine wires you into a keyboard, we go hands-in
Got a game with a lot of commands, but are sick of supporting the Big Keyboard industry? Meet your rebel input replacement, the Peregrine. Demonstrated to us at E3, the Peregrine is basically an elastic glove with some wires sewn into it at various points. Connecting one of those points to conductive patches on the palm and thumb creates an electrical circuit, which the glove's brain converts to a keypress. It's like a glove but with power -- a sort of power glove, if you will. The main application is MMOs, where you could touch your thumb and forefinger together to cast a spell in a role-playing game or touch your middle finger to your palm to heal yourself. Or your character, anyway. More impressions and some spec-ops intrigue after the break.
Apple patent reveals 'iPhone gloves' for warmer hands-on experience
A new Apple patent has been found that will assuredly warms the hearts (and hands) of many iPhone users currently enduring a cold winter. Originally filed a day before the iPhone's June 28, 2007 launch, it details a glove with a thin, electrically conductive, "anti-sticky" inner layer that is able to function with a capacitive touchscreen. It also suggests the glove could have apertures on the fingertips for opening and closing the more protective outer layer. Of course, the concept is far from new -- just do a quick Google search for "iPhone gloves" to see a wide variety of choices -- and Apple doesn't really dabble in this sort of iPhone / iPod accessory, but if Phil keeps his hands in his pockets for the first half of the Macworld keynote, we're gonna start to get ideas.[Via Apple Insider; thanks, Shawn]
Swany's g.cell snowboard glove secretly doubles as Bluetooth handset
Bluetooth technology has been finding its way into ski gear for years now, but Swany has taken things to a whole 'nother level -- one that's only reachable via the heated quad-lift. Unless this description is positively inaccurate, there's actually a Bluetooth module, speaker and microphone tucked within one of the g.cell gloves. When it detects an incoming call, it gives your wrist a shake (read: there's a vibrate function) and enables you to quite literally talk to the hand. Swany asserts that it'll last for 12 hours on standby (4 hours of talk time), though your phone may crap out a few hours earlier in extreme temperatures. Now that we think about it, wrestling that mobile out of our deep coat pockets with frostbitten hands is pretty annoying -- maybe that $495 price tag isn't so staggering after all.[Via bookofjoe, thanks llya]
Clove 2 typing glove leaves your other hand free for high fives
Have no fear, we're always on the hunt for new and innovative ways to boost your bombdigity quotient, and we've really found just the thing this time around. The Clove 2 interfaces with your computer over Bluetooth, and through a strange set of tapping gestures (that sort of remind us of that one Daft Punk video), allows you to type one-handed, sans keyboard. Seems like quite the learning curve, but we're sure it's totally worth it in the end. Four words per minute never looked so good. Video is after the break.[Via Hack a Day]
HandTalk glove speaks your hand gestures... we can see where this is headed
Oooh, now we get it. HandTalk converts hand gestures like sign language into spoken words. Well, don't we feel silly. The device was developed by a group of nerds at Carnegie Mellon, and can track finger and hand gestures with a vocabulary of 32 words in its existing v0.1 model. The signals are transmitted from the glove to a phone over Bluetooth, where the words are converted with text to speech software. Not bad for a bunch of off-the-shelf components, but they could've scored double the nerd points by repurposing a Power Glove for this -- gotta think big picture, people. [Via talk2myShirt]
RallyPoint Handwear Computer Input Device gives soldiers a hand
The last thing you want to do in a combat situation is bust out a keyboard and mouse and start clicking away just to send some simple commands via your embedded computer. Now RallyPoint, a Cambridge, MA-based startup, is building a new computer interface glove so that soldiers can operate their computers in the field without taking their hands off their gun. The Handwear Computer Input Device (HCID) has a whole mess of sensors built-in, including push-button sensors in the pinky, fourth finger and index, finger, a mouse-like sensor in the index finger and a trio of accelerometers on the back of the hand. HCID plugs in via USB, and can be used to activate radio, navigate electronic maps and send commands. No word on when HCID is going to be deployed, but despite its bulky looks it seems to be pretty much field ready.
Researchers set sights on uber-dexterous robotic hand
Dr. Honghai Liu, one of the two researchers heading up a project to craft an exceptionally deft robotic hand, has called such a device "one of the holy grails of science," and honestly, we can't say we disagree. He, along with Professor Xiangyang Zhu, was recently award a Royal Society grant to further research the possibility of using artificial intelligence to create software that could "learn and copy human hand movements." A sensor-laden cyberglove has been used to capture data about how the human hand moves, and the duo hopes to eventually use the findings to produce the "perfect artificial limb." Of course, there's no telling how long it'll take for such technology to actually be perfected, but we can already see the line forming with folks eager to swap out their own hand for one a bit more adept.[Via The Raw Feed]
Glove enchants for the discerning Druid
Earlier today, Karthis over at Of Teeth and Claws responded to a question from one of his readers regarding which glove enchant was best if you're a tanking Druid. In case you missed it, despite our massive coverage of the last patch, some old world enchants made their return -- including Enchant Gloves: Threat, which previously dropped only in Ahn'Qiraj.He examines the current options players have available for glove enchants, and backs up his opinion with solid math and theorycrafting. If you're wracking your brain trying to figure out which enchant suits your Druid best, I recommend going and checking out his post!
Wii Warm Up: The infamous wrist strap
Sure, you know you should wear the wrist strap. Nintendo scolds you about it, and you've seen what can happen. But when you settle down for a little Wii gaming, do you strap it up, or maybe try an alternative solution? Does it depend on what you're playing? Sometimes, when we're in sideways mode, we admit we don't go for the strap, but any time we're a little more active, we put it on -- just in case.
NTT's Tangible-3D prototype gives feeling to on-screen imagery
Regardless of general consensus, it looks like 3D display technology is making a run for our wallets (and to a lesser extent, our hearts), and just days after getting wind of Philips' latest iteration, NTT is hitting back with a newfangled approach of its own. Based around an improved version of the company's original 3D display, this prototype system relies on a sophisticated array of cameras and an actuator-stuffed glove that can allow the wearer to "feel the image" that shows up on the LCD. As the object changes, the glove moves along in real-time to give the user a lifelike idea of what the on-screen matter actually feels like, but unfortunately, it doesn't allow the individual to react. Thankfully, a two-way system that will enable tactile transmissions to be channeled in both directions is in the works, but those parked in Japan can check out the current system at the Industrial Virtual Reality Expo later next week.[Via Slashgear image courtesy of Mainichi]
NASA competition finds a better space glove
Wow, that was fast. We checked in on the NASA competition to design a better space glove just a few days ago, and they've already crowned a winner. Peter Homer, an engineer from Southwest Harbor, Maine, beat out three other competitors and the current NASA Phase VI glove to bag the $200,000 prize with his design made with off-the-shelf kitchen cleaning gloves and "a cloth material he found on eBay." The achievement is all the more remarkable for occurring in the contest's first year, since NASA doesn't usually see very many winners in these challenges -- in fact, this is the first time anyone has ever won. Expect to see NASA trolling eBay for ISS parts in the near future.[Via NewScientist]
Hacking the dead: Power Glove for the Wii
Ah, yes, the Power Glove. Many of us still remember the peripheral emerging onto the scene during our childhood, not to mention its prominent role in the spotlight of the movie The Wizard. Well, now that the Wii has released, a Japanese hacker has decided to incorporate the Wiimote and Power Glove together into a kind of Voltronesque mechanical monstrosity.[Via Joystiq]
Illinois students revive the Power Glove
Tilt-sensitive controllers? Magic-wand-style pointers? That's just kids stuff. Everyone knows that the Power Glove is the only video game controller so good that it's so bad. Now, two University of Illinois grad students are bringing the concept into the next generation with a prototype glove controller of their own.The glove, developed as part of a technology entrepreneurship class by Jason Skowronski and Shivani Jain, accurately models the bending of finger joints and the hand's position and orientation in space, according to a (Champaign, Ill.) News-Gazette story. While video games are the most obvious and lucrative application for such a device, the glove is also being considered for use as a virtual mobile keyboard or a sign language interpreter.The pair is reportedly trying to get the technology into the sub-$100 range as they patent their ideas and pitch them to game companies. We hope someone bites -- just imagine being able to flip someone the bird and see it accurately recreated in your game of Barbie's Horse Adventure 2: the Revenge. How's that for interactive?
Because your Wiimote needs armor
The Wiimote is dangerous. This is undeniable; never before has a video game controller come packaged with such sheer potential for mayhem and insanity. With all that bat-swinging sword-slashing gun-firing nonsense, a few skulls are sure to crack ... and despite Nintendo best efforts (read: a wrist strap), some safety freaks might need a little extra come these holidays. Worry no more! Some recently leaked shots of some warehouse somewhere (actually, it's a CompUSA storage facility) shows off some nice controller "gloves" in a multitude of colors (pictures after the break). More intriguing, but sadly without images, is the news that Pelican will be manufacturing a "Nerf Wii Remote" and a "Nerf Nunchuk Controller Wii", as listed on amazon.com. Oh, how we long for the squishy days of yore![Thanks, Ali!]
Wii accessories list, courtesy of Gamestop [Update 1]
EB Games/Gamestop/EB Gamestop or whatever they're called these days occasionally gets some inside information before the press. (I say occasionally; please hold off on the "my local EB Games employee told you the Wii was coming out December 17th" tips.) A quick search of Gamestop's online store in the accessories section yields some interesting results, shows as follows:Wii Controller Glove 9.99 Wii G-Pak Travel Case 29.99 Wii Game Wallet 9.99 Wii HD Premium Component Cable 59.99 Wii Memory SD 1.0GB 59.99 Wii Memory SD 512MB 39.99 Wii S-Video Premium AV Cable 39.99 Wii Sling Bag 29.99 Wii Storage & Protection 1.0GB Kit 69.99We knew about the Power Glove, but the SD cards just seem like a convenient excuse for Gamestop to take people's money; the prices are quite high. The premium component cable is insanely expensive, but hey, it's premium. Other than that, your classic game-toting sling-bag take-it-anywhere-but-not-really-because-no-one-ever-does-that accessories are on the list. With the immediate need for extra controllers, memory, and games at launch, is anyone going to pick up any of these other things?[Thanks, Randy!][Update 1: Clarified that the SD cards are not officially from Nintendo, and realized that you can in fact get SD cards for far cheaper.]
Oh snap! It's the Power Glove!
Someone must be paying attention. A placeholder has turned up on Gamestop for a Wii "controller glove." Alas, there's no image, but this is worth keeping an eye on. BD&A, the company attached to this exciting new prospect, has a few other product placeholders for the Wii at Gamestop as well.[Via Go Nintendo]
